People Without Nation

My Arrival in Tehran

Three weeks after Saeed’s arrest, on Oct 18th 2008, I arrived in Tehran. In the meantime, members of both his and my family had repeatedly visited the Revolutionary Court and the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office, but the officials in charge refused to disclose his status, and didn’t give us any information about the charges against him. In November 2008, I received a phone call by people who claimed to be in charge of his case but refused to tell me their names, who summoned me to answer some questions at the Ministry for Culture and Islamic Guidance (Ershad), even though they insisted not to be affiliated with the Ministry (so that I wouldn’t follow up on Saeed’s case with them). They interrogated me for several hours, and pressured me to give them all of my e-mail addresses and the associated passwords, as well as our Canadian bank account number. I was also warned not to talk to the media to take Saeed’s case public, and told not to seek assistance of Canadian government or Civil rights organizations. Threats were made against me personally, against Saeed and against our families should I do so.